Rian and Hrothgar manage to muscle the… whatever it was into the mysterious room with little trouble. As they enter the room, the feint sounds of the underground disappear and both have a strange feeling upon crossing into the room. As the lead pedestal hits the stone of the room, it gives a quick “thunk” so both of them realize that there is sound in this room, but for as close as Creathin's cottage appears, the lack of sound from it makes it appear that much more distant.

The group starts chucking other belongings into the room as quick as they can do so. As they near the completion of their looting task, Katlhanar’s disembodied voice arrives to explain what they already knew: time was running out. With the combined effort of the group, everything of interest is examined and taken within about 7-8 minutes from the time that Creathin has died. As they finish, Brandon closes the door to the room and turns the handle. Within seconds the door fades from view and falls into his hand. Just for fun he presses it back against the wall and tries to reopen it, but it does not turn, as expected.

The group hastens to head north, with Kalthanar running ahead slightly. They see no sign of resistance, and as they continue, he comes back to join the others. As they move, he explains Trudy’s fate.

The Sentinels pass between the Butcher’s house and Takhisis’s temple. Through the trees to their left, the black stone temple sits ominously. It was likely weakened and possibly even deserted. It’s possible that several magic items could have been obtained had they opted to prioritize things differently, but certainly something else would have been sacrificed. They were close to escaping with having accomplished saving most of the Pathfinders, plus Alyssa. They had defeated the Butcher and secured additional allies in the form of the Firewalkers of Sirrion. They had reclaimed the heart from the Butcher for Ult as part of the deal, assuming that he lived. Certainly, those were a lot of potential accomplishments, but they were also unable to reclaim the Tickler, or completely eliminate the threat of the Dark Queen in this area. Burnt, fatigued, and mentally exhausted, they trudged past the temple satisfied with their accomplishments without looking back.

Upon reaching the bath house, they find about twenty bodies here, including three dead blind men and a dead female scholar of some time. A quick glance shows that all valuables have been looted, and the group begins climbing up the waterfall. The Sentinels are still under the effects of the water walking spell, and scale it easily, assisting each other as they go. About halfway up the tunnel, they catch up with Alyssa, who is not moving too quickly in her fatigued state. She looks considerably better than before with the water washing away the congealed blood and making her look more like her former self, if a bit emaciated.

The combined group of the Sentinels plus Velkyn and Alyssa reach the area where they broke the dam and freed the water elemental, where they find Ult ready to greet them. He embraced Velkyn who both thank Sirrion. Behind him about a half dozen drow with blue armbands are lined up to climb out the escape shaft.

Ult turns his attention to them. He is about to discuss something with them. Perhaps he was going to ask for the Heart. Perhaps he was going to tell them about the Pathfinders. Maybe it was to thank them. Whatever he was going to say was interrupted as the whole cavern shook violently, much more so than previously, knocking them all into the hip deep water. A violent roar followed seconds later, echoing up the waterfall. What made the sound wasn’t obvious, but it certainly sounded like it had come from the Dark Queen’s temple.